Lone Wolf conversion

I've never given the Lone Wolf any attention before, but recently I've felt more attracted to the idea of a single marine running across the battlefield, trying to die whatever way seems fit. In my lists, the one thing I really struggle with is AV14. Of course I have meltas spread all over my Grey Hunters squads, but I've never liked the idea to use a troop to stop a Land Raider, possibly with a death star unit inside. The 6” melta range makes this unit almost sacrificial in this aspect. So maybe a Lone Wolf in TDA with Chain fist and Storm shield could do the job? With a couple of Fenrisian Wolves he has better chance to reach the enemy. So this will be my configuration. This costs 105 pt, quite expensive for the job. But I had a cool idea for a model, so I had to give it a try.

My inspiration came from the Broodlord-model. I wanted the Lone Wolf to have his arms to the side, howling for the moon. The Wolf Guard box set should have what I need. Well, almost. All the chain fists and storm shields are left hand only. So I had to convert either a left hand shield or chain fist. I chose the latter. I couldn't find any picture of a good conversion, so I made my own, very simple one, from a power fist and the saw from a chain fist Not a smooth conversion, but good enough.

A little bit of green stuff later, and my Broodwolf came to life. Considering the amount of time I spent, and the result, I'm satisfied. The shoulder plates are not perfect, but a bit of paint should cover most of it. Also, the arms are maybe a bit to long. But, hey, Space Marines are not Homo Sapiens, so I don't care. Here's the final result:

-Norau

Oh, and Merry Christmas!

500 points doubles at Outland

A few weekends back, me and Briefspite hosted a mini-tournament at Outland Kirkegata in Oslo. 20 guys showed up for the 500 points doubles tournament, much merriness were had by all (or should I say "most").

The highlight of the day was definitively when Carl Gustav realized that his immobile artillery pieces (we allowed Forge World units) couldn't be deployed in Dawn of War. To be fair, we allowed his guys to drag the artillery onto the board and then become immobile for the rest of the game.



In the end, the duo of Norau and Tawaaagh seized the victory by going undefeated through the entire day. Congratulations!

Bjorn The Fell-Handed conversion

Norau have built this great Dreadnought conversion, representing the awesome Bjorn. He was the first Great Wolf, you know!

We'll try to get him a nice paint job as soon as possible. This cool dude simply can't walk around all grey for long.

A brief video report from Strategikon 6

On the weekend of the 15th and 16th of October 2011, we hosted the 6th Strategikon Tournament. It was a blast, and the outcome was very surprising, as none of the usual heavy-weights won!

Ready for Strategikon 6

The night before Strategikon 6, the terrain is out, the tables are ready, and a couple of players are here playing already!

Team Norway's lists at ETC 2011

This year is the first time Norway sends a team of 40k players to compete at the ETC. Here are our lists:

PLAYER 1: Henning «Illumini» Lundheim
ARMY DESCRIPTION : Blood Angels

HQ 1 : Librarian (100), Shield of sanguinius (0), Unleash rage (0) [100 pts]

ELITE 1 : 5 Assault Terminators (200), 3 Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield (15), TRANSPORT 1 [215 pts]
ELITE 2 : 5 Assault Terminators (200), 3 Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield (15), TRANSPORT 2 [215 pts]
ELITE 3 : 2 Sanguinary Priests (100), 2 Power Weapons (30) [130 pts]

TROOP 1 : 10 Assault Marines (190), 2 Meltaguns (20) Power Fist (25) [235 pts]
TROOP 2 : 10 Assault Marines (190), 2 Meltaguns (20) Power Fist (25) [235 pts]
TROOP 3 : 5 Scouts (75), 5 Camo cloaks (15), Combat Blades & Bolt Pistols (0) [90 pts]

TRANSPORT 1 : Land Raider Redeemer (240), Extra Armour (15), Multi-melta (10) [265 pts]
TRANSPORT 2 : Land Raider Redeemer (240), Extra Armour (15), Multi-melta (10) [265 pts]

TOTAL [1750 pts]



PLAYER 2: Kenneth «KaldCB» Lomeland
ARMY DESCRIPTION : Space Wolves

HQ 1 : Rune Priest (100) Storm Caller (0), Jaws of the world wolf (0) [100 pts]

ELITE 1 : 3 Wolf guard (54) 2 power fist & combi melta (50), TRANSPORT 1 [104 pts]
ELITE 2 : 5 Wolf scouts (75), 1 Meltagun (10) [85 pts]
ELITE 3 : 5 Wolf scouts (75), 1 Meltagun (10) [85 pts]

TROOP 1 : 5 Grey hunters (75), 1 Meltagun (5), TRANSPORT 2 [80 pts]
TROOP 2 : 5 Grey hunters (75), 1 Meltagun (5), TRANSPORT 3 [80 pts]
TROOP 3 : 5 Grey hunters (75), Flamer (0), TRANSPORT 4 [75 pts]
TROOP 4 : 5 Grey hunters (75), Flamer (0), TRANSPORT 5 [75 pts]

FAST ATTACK 1: Land speeder (50), Multimelta (10) [60 pts]
FAST ATTACK 2: Land speeder (50), Multimelta (10) [60 pts]

HEAVY SUPPORT 1: 5 Long fangs (75), 4 Missile launchers (40), TRANSPORT 6 [115 pts]
HEAVY SUPPORT 2: 5 Long fangs (75) 4 Missile launchers (40), TRANSPORT 7 [115 pts]
HEAVY SUPPORT 3: 5 Long fangs (75) 4 Missile launchers (40), TRANSPORT 8 [115 pts]

TRANSPORT 1 : Razorback (40), Lascannon & twinlinked plasmagun (35) [75 pts]
TRANSPORT 2 : Razorback (40), Lascannon & twinlinked plasmagun (35) [75 pts]
TRANSPORT 3 : Razorback (40), Lascannon & twinlinked plasmagun (35) [75 pts]
TRANSPORT 4 : Razorback (40), Lascannon & twinlinked plasmagun (35) [75 pts]
TRANSPORT 5 : Razorback (40), Lascannon & twinlinked plasmagun (35) [75 pts]
TRANSPORT 6 : Razorback (40), Lascannon & twinlinked plasmagun (35) [75 pts]
TRANSPORT 7 : Razorback (40), Lascannon & twinlinked plasmagun (35) [75 pts]
TRANSPORT 8 : Razorback (40), Lascannon & twinlinked plasmagun (35) [75 pts]

TOTAL [1749 pts]



PLAYER 3: Knut Bjarne «ReX» Gandrud
ARMY DESCRIPTION : Eldar

HQ 1 : Autarch (70), Fusion Gun (10) [80 pts]
HQ 2 : Farseer (55), Runes of Warding (15), Doom (25) [95 pts]

ELITE 1 : 5 Fire Dragons (80), TRANSPORT 1 [80 pts]
ELITE 2 : 5 Fire Dragons (80), TRANSPORT 2 [80 pts]
ELITE 3 : 5 Fire Dragons (80), TRANSPORT 3 [80 pts]

TROOP 1 : 5 Dire Avengers (60), TRANSPORT 4 [60 pts]
TROOP 2 : 5 Dire Avengers (60), TRANSPORT 5 [60 pts]
TROOP 3 : 5 Dire Avengers (60), TRANSPORT 6 [60 pts]

FAST ATTACK 1: Vyper (45), Scatter Laser (15) [60 pts]

HEAVY SUPPORT 1: 2 War Walkers (60), 4 Scatter Lasers (60) [120 pts]
HEAVY SUPPORT 2: 2 War Walkers (60), 4 Scatter Lasers (60) [120 pts]
HEAVY SUPPORT 3: 2 War Walkers (60), 4 Scatter Lasers (60) [120 pts]

TRANSPORT 1 : Wave Serpent (90), Twin-linked Shuriken Cannon (10), Shuriken Cannon (10), Spirit Stones (10) [120 pts]
TRANSPORT 2 : Wave Serpent (90), Twin-linked Shuriken Cannon (10), Shuriken Cannon (10), Spirit Stones (10) [120 pts]
TRANSPORT 3 : Wave Serpent (90), Twin-linked Shuriken Cannon (10), Shuriken Cannon (10), Spirit Stones (10) [120 pts]
TRANSPORT 4 : Wave Serpent (90), Twin-linked Scatter Laser (25), Shuriken Cannon (10) [125 pts]
TRANSPORT 5 : Wave Serpent (90), Twin-linked Scatter Laser (25), Shuriken Cannon (10) [125 pts]
TRANSPORT 6 : Wave Serpent (90), Twin-linked Scatter Laser (25), Shuriken Cannon (10) [125 pts]

TOTAL [1750 pts]



PLAYER 4: Bjørn-Erik Hytt
ARMY DESCRIPTION: Dark Eldar

HQ 1: Haemonculus (50), Shattershard (15), Venom Blade (5), [70 pts]

ELITE 1: 4x Kabalite Trueborn (48), 4x Blasters (60), TRANSPORT 4 [108 pts]
ELITE 2: 4x Kabalite Trueborn (48), 4x Blasters (60), TRANSPORT 5 [108 pts]
ELITE 3: 4x Kabalite Trueborn (48), 4x Blasters (60), TRANSPORT 6 [108 pts]

TROOP 1: 9x Wytches (90), Haywire Grenades (18) 1x Hekatrix (10) Agoniser (20), TRANSPORT 7 [138 pts]
TROOP 2: 5x Kabalite Warriors (45) 1x Blaster (15), TRANSPORT 1 [60 pts]
TROOP 3: 5x Kabalite Warriors (45) 1x Blaster (15), TRANSPORT 2 [60 pts]
TROOP 4: 5x Kabalite Warriors 45 1x Blaster (15), TRANSPORT 3 [60 pts]
TROOP 5: 3x Wracks [30 pts]

FAST ATTACK 1: Beastmasters x4 (48), Razorwing Flock x6 (90), Khymerae x4 (48) [186 pts]

HEAVY SUPPORT 1: Ravager (105), Flickerfield (10) [115 pts]
HEAVY SUPPORT 2: Ravager (105), Flickerfield (10) [115 pts]
HEAVY SUPPORT 3: Ravager (105), Flickerfield (10) [115 pts]

TRANSPORT 1: Raider (60), Flickerfield (10) [70 pts]
TRANSPORT 2: Raider (60), Flickerfield (10) [70 pts]
TRANSPORT 3: Raider (60), Flickerfield (10) [70 pts]
TRANSPORT 4: Venom (55), Splinter cannon (10) [65 pts]
TRANSPORT 5: Venom (55), Splinter cannon (10) [65 pts]
TRANSPORT 6: Venom (55), Splinter cannon (10) [65 pts]
TRANSPORT 7: Raider (60), Flickerfield (10) [70 pts]

TOTAL: [1748 pts]



PLAYER 5: Espen «Rolig» Roligheten
ARMY DESCRIPTION: Space Marines

HQ 1 : Space Marine Librarian (100), Terminator Armour and Storm Shield (40), Null zone (0), Might of the ancients (0) [140 pts]

ELITE 1 : Ironclad Dreadnought (135), Exchange Storm Bolter for Heavy Flamer (10), TRANSPORT 1 [145 pts]
ELITE 2 : Ironclad Dreadnought (135), Exchange Storm Bolter for Heavy Flamer (10), TRANSPORT 2 [145 pts]
ELITE 3 : 6 Terminator Assault Squad (240), 4x thunderhammer and stormshield (0), 2x lightning claws (0) [240 pts]

TROOP 1 : 10 Tactical squad (170), 1x Meltagun (5), 1x Lascannon (10), 1x Power Fist (25), TRANSPORT 3 [210 pts]
TROOP 2 : 10 Tactical squad (170), 1x Meltagun (5), 1x Lascannon (10), 1x Power Fist (25), TRANSPORT 4 [210 pts]

FAST ATTACK 1: 1 Land Speeder squadron (50), 1x Typoon missile launcher (40) [90 pts]
FAST ATTACK 2: 1 Land Speeder squadron (50), 1x Typoon missile launcher (40) [90 pts]
FAST ATTACK 3: 1 Land Speeder squadron (50), 1x Typoon missile launcher (40), Multi-Melta (10) [100 pts]

HEAVY SUPPORT 1: Thunderfire cannon, TRANSPORT 5 [100 pts]
HEAVY SUPPORT 2: Thunderfire cannon [100 pts]

TRANSPORT 1 : Drop pod [35 pts]
TRANSPORT 2 : Drop pod [35 pts]
TRANSPORT 3 : Rhino [35 pts]
TRANSPORT 4 : Rhino [35 pts]
TRANSPORT 5 : Drop pod [35 pts]

TOTAL [1745 pts]



PLAYER 6: Andreas Ørlyng
ARMY DESCRIPTION: Black Templars

HQ 1 : 1 Emperor's Champion (90), Accept Any Challenge (50) [140 pts]

ELITE 1 : 1 Dreadnought (105), Venerable (20), Skill: Tank Hunter (10), Heavy Flamer (10), Extra Armor (5), Searchlight (1), Smoke Launchers (3) [154 pts]
ELITE 2 : Sword Brethren Terminator Squad: 5 Terminators (200), 5 Skill: Tank Hunter (15), 2 Cyclone Missile Launcher (50) , 1 Chain Fist (5) [270 pts]

TROOP 1 : Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates (80), 2 Bolt Pistol and CCW (0), 1 Bolter (0), 1 Meltagun (10), 1 Multimelta (10), TRANSPORT 1 [100 pts]
TROOP 2 : Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates (80), 2 Bolt Pistol and CCW (0), 1 Bolter (0) 1 Meltagun (10), 1 Multimelta (10), TRANSPORT 2 [100 pts]
TROOP 3 : Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates (80), 3 Bolter (0), 1 Plasmagun (6), 1 Lascannon (15), TRANSPORT 3 [96 pts]

FAST ATTACK 1: Land Speeder Squadron: 1 Land Speeder (50), Typhoon Missile Launcher (20) [70 pts]
FAST ATTACK 2: Land Speeder Squadron: 1 Land Speeder (50), Typhoon Missile Launcher (20) [70 pts]
FAST ATTACK 3: Land Speeder Squadron: 2 Land Speeders (100), Typhoon Missile Launcher (40) [140 pts]

HEAVY SUPPORT 1: 1 Predator Annihilator (120), Lascannon Sponsons (25) [145 pts]
HEAVY SUPPORT 2: 1 Predator Annihilator (120), Lascannon Sponsons (25) [145 pts]
HEAVY SUPPORT 3: 1 Predator Annihilator (120), Lascannon Sponsons (25) [145 pts]

TRANSPORT 1 : 1 Rhino (50), Smoke Launchers (3), Extra Armour (5) [58 pts]
TRANSPORT 2 : 1 Rhino (50), Smoke Launchers (3), Extra Armour (5) [58 pts]
TRANSPORT 3 : 1 Rhino (50), Smoke Launchers (3), Searchlight (1) [54 pts]

TOTAL [1750 pts]



PLAYER 7: Alexander «BlueRonin» Sawyer
ARMY DESCRIPTION: Imperial Guard

HQ 1: Company Command Squad (50) Power Weapon, Plasma Pistol, Medi-pack, Plasma Gun x3, Astropath (125), TRANSPORT 1 [175 pts]

ELITE 1: Psyker Battle Squad (60) +5 Sanctioned Psyker (50), TRANSPORT 2 [110 pts]

TROOP 1: Infantry Platoon
Platoon Command Squad (30) Flamer x4, Krak Grenades (25), TRANSPORT 3 [55 pts]
Infantry Squad (50) Commissar, Power Weapon x2, Autocannon (65) [115 pts]
Infantry Squad (50) Power Weapon, Autocannon (20) [70 pts]
Infantry Squad (50) Power Weapon, Autocannon (20) [70 pts]
TROOP 2: Veteran Squad (70) Power Fist, Flamer x 3, Shotgun x7, Demolitions (60) [130 pts]
TROOP 3: Veteran Squad (70) Power Fist, Flamer x 3, Shotgun x7, Demolitions (60) [130 pts]

FAST ATTACK 1: Vendetta (130) [130 pts]
FAST ATTACK 2: Vendetta (130) [130 pts]

HEAVY SUPPORT 1: Hydra Flak Tank Battery (75) + 1 Hydra Flak Tank (75) [150 pts]
HEAVY SUPPORT 2: Ordnance Battery, Medusa (135), Bastion-breacher shells (5) [140 pts]
HEAVY SUPPORT 3: Ordnance Battery, Medusa (135), Bastion-breacher shells (5) [140 pts]

TRANSPORT 1: Chimera (55), Turret Heavy Flamer, Pintle-mounted Heavy Stubber (10) [65 pts]
TRANSPORT 2: Chimera (55) Hull Heavy Flamer, Pintle-mounted Heavy Stubber (10) [65 pts]
TRANSPORT 3: Chimera (55) Turret Heavy Flamer, Dozer Blade, Pintle-mounted Heavy Stubber (20) [75 pts]

TOTAL [1750 pts]



PLAYER 8: Jonas «Xadhoom» Lepsøy
ARMY DESCRIPTION: Chaos Space Marines

HQ 1: Daemon Prince (110), Wings (20), Mark of Slaanesh (5), Lash of Submission (20) [155 pts]
HQ 2: Daemon Prince (110), Wings (20), Mark of Slaanesh (5), Lash of Submission (20) [155 pts]

TROOP 1: 10 Chaos Space Marines (150), 2 Meltaguns (20), Icon of Chaos Glory (10), TRANSPORT 1 [180 pts]
TROOP 2: 5 Plague Marines (115), 2 Meltaguns (20), TRANSPORT 2 [135 pts]
TROOP 3: 5 Plague Marines (115), 2 Meltaguns (20), TRANSPORT 3 [135 pts]
TROOP 4: 5 Plague Marines (115), 2 Meltaguns (20), TRANSPORT 4 [135 pts]

HEAVY SUPPORT 1: 3 Obliterators [225 pts]
HEAVY SUPPORT 2: 3 Obliterators [225 pts]
HEAVY SUPPORT 3: 3 Obliterators [225 pts]

TRANSPORT 1: Rhino (35), Combi-Melta (10) [45 pts]
TRANSPORT 2: Rhino (35), Combi-Melta (10) [45 pts]
TRANSPORT 3: Rhino (35), Combi-Melta (10) [45 pts]
TRANSPORT 4: Rhino (35), Combi-Melta (10) [45 pts]

TOTAL: [1750 pts]

Even more terrain!

The buildings from Amera are complete and mounted on bases. They are easy to cut and build, and surprisingly sturdy.


The next step is to prime and paint them. After that, it's more hills, trenches and tank traps, and then we'll have us a big ol' city fight!

Terrain ho!

One afternoon of working with knives and glue - Result!

Aftermath of Strategikon 5

The last Strategikon tournament was a great success! We had 41 people this time, which is up from 27 in Strategikon 4.

Eldar Autarch by Bjørn-Erik Hytt

Ork Waaagh by Jon Bjarne Moe Gumø

The secret secondary missions worked great. People were really happy with them, even though we realized they could have needed a bit more play-testing. Some of the missions were very hard, and some were pretty easy. Well, we've tested them now, eh? Over 200 games were played at the tournament, so I guess the first round of tests have shown that the concept works.

Baal Predator by Morten Fredheim

We played like this: The tournament organizer rolls for mission and deployment, then hands out one secret secondary mission to each player. The primary is worth 3/1/0, and the secondary is worth a single point.

See this post for all the secondary missions.

Secondary missions at Strategikon 5

Here are the secondary missions we used at Strategikon 5, so you guys can try them out at home. Roll for mission and deployment first, then randomly draw one of these secret missions. The primary mission (Seize Ground, Capture and Control or Annihilation) is worth 3/1/0, and the secret secondary is worth 1 point.

1: Lost gear

Your operatives had to abandon some vital equipment in this area. This is your chance to recover it!

The equipment is hidden in the center of the battlefield. You will get 1 point for controlling this location at the end of the game.

You control the location if you have a unit of Troops within 3” of the center of the battlefield, and there are no enemy units within 12”.

2: Great leader

The enemy commander is pivotal to the enemy in the ongoing conflict. You must eliminate the him/her/it!

You will get 1 point if you kill your opponent’s most expensive HQ model.

If the enemy doesn’t have a single HQ model with a points cost, you must kill the most expensive HQ unit to fulfil this objective.

If there are 2 HQs of equal cost, you have to kill both of them to get the point.

3: Winning the war

Even though winning this battle is important, winning the long term conflict is more important.

You need to preserve your forces for further engagements. You get 1 point if you have more units alive at the end of the battle than your opponent.

Note that fleeing or fled units are considered “alive” for this purpose.

4: Heavy gear

The enemy have enormous amounts of heavy forces. You must focus on silencing their big guns.

You will earn 1 point if your opponent doesn’t have any Heavy Support units left at the end of the game.

If your opponent doesn’t have any Heavy Support, then you will have to completely destroy his Elites instead. No Elites either? All his Fast Attack then!

5: Warrior elite

The enemy army consists of highly experienced elite troops. You must target their warrior elites to give your side a chance in this war.

You will earn 1 point if your opponent doesn’t have any Elite units left at the end of the game.

If your opponent’s army doesn’t have any Elites then you will have to completely destroy his Heavy Support instead.

No Heavy Support either? All his Fast Attack then!

6: Control the field

This area is of vital tactical importance in the ongoing conflict.

Split the battlefield in four quadrants. You will get 1 point if you have a unit completely within EACH quadrant at the end of the game.

Note that ANY unit can fulfil this objective, not just units from the Troops category. The enemy can’t contest the quadrants for this objective.

7: Impressive victory

After losing many battles in this war, your side desperately needs to increase morale. A slaughter of enemy forces should do the trick.

You will earn 1 point if you completely destroy three enemy units in one player turn. Show this card to your opponent when you fulfil this mission.

8: Decimation

Your forces can’t stand up to the number of enemy troops! You have to cut them down to size.

You will get 1 point if you completely destroy the enemy unit containing the most models.

Making them flee is not enough, you have to kill them all!

If there are multiple units that can be considered containing the most models, you will have to destroy all of them.

9: Hold the line!

This position is vital for the war effort. It must not fall!

You will earn 1 point if there are no enemy units within 18” of your table edge at the end of the game.

10: Breakthrough

This battle is part of a major offensive, and this is where the enemy line will break!

You will get 1 point if you have a scoring unit within 6” of your opponent’s table edge and no units within 12” of your own table edge at the end of the game.

11: Destroy them!

You must show the enemy no quarter and inflict serious damage before they realize what’s happening!

You will earn 1 point if you have destroyed or routed at least 50% of the enemy’s units at the end of the game.

12: It ends here

This battle is the last one of the war. Your two small forces is all that is left. Everyone else are dead. Make sure you win!

You will get 1 point if you are the only one that have a HQ unit alive and not fleeing at the end of the game.

Herohammer: Njal Stormcaller

Njal Stormcaller in his Runic Terminator Dreadnought Armour

Last time we explored the insane Space Wolves Herohammer list. Me and Norau decided that we just have to try this list out, and of course we need the proper minis! Here's the first one, Njal Stormcaller. We simply love this classic Rune Priest mini, and with a simple gun swap it's a perfect rendition of Njal.

I painted him with a basecoat of Fenris Grey, overbrushed Shadow Grey and highlighted with Adeptus Battlegrey. The runes are Mechrite Red, followed by lighter and lighter applications of Lord Solar Macharius Orange, Blazing Orange and Golden Yellow.

I like how Njal ended up looking, especially as i really didn't spend a lot of time on him. Norau is going to the Strategikon tournament next weekend, and Njal and his buddies just needs to be painted before then.

Herohammering the Wolves

Intrigued by Blog Wars over at From The Fang, where every army must include a special character, we wanted to make the ultimate Herohammer Space Wolves list. The result:

• Logan Grimnar
• Njal Stormcaller w/Runic Terminator Armour
• Bjorn the Fell-Handed w/Plasma Cannon
• Ulrik the Slayer
• Blood Claws Pack
• Lukas the Trickster
• Blood Claws x4
• Rhino
• Wolf Guard Pack
• Arjac Rockfist
• Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour x2

All this for the small sum of 1499 

This list is actually legal. Insane! And it scales really well too. At 1750, simply give the Wolf Guard, Logan and Njal a Land Raider! Obviously we have to try this out. We'll play a game with this army as soon as we are able. Stay tuned for the exciting battle report!

Eager to find an opponent we tried to do the same exercise with other codices, but the closest we got was a Space Marines list at 940. If you find anything higher, and legal, please let us know in the comments.

Haters gonna hate 2

So apparently Hitler plays Daemonhunters :)



The video author brings up an interesting point. A lot of trolls on the internet seem to be talking trash over guys that are jumping to the newest Codex when it is released. At the moment, that's Grey Knights. For me, the release of a new codex is very exciting, and I want to explore the possibilities within as soon as possible. If that makes me a guy that jumps on the bandwagon of cheese, so be it.

At least I paint my armies.

Video battle report: Imperial Guard vs Eldar

Mr. Sportsmanship and Knut is at it again! This time: Imperial Guard vs Eldar. The guys are testing out armies for the upcoming Strategikon 5 tournament with lists at 1500 points.

Video Battle Report: New Grey Knights vs Orks

We got some visitors from another club on our thursday gaming night this time. I played versus Inger Helene from Team Stormbolter, and she had brought her Orks.

She had a pretty good list, with Lootas, a couple of Kans, two Trukks full of Boyz, a largish unit of Koptas, and the big heavy hitter: Ghazghkull Thraka with a lot of Nobs in a Battlewagon. Nice!

I have gotten hold of a copy of the new Grey Knights Codex, and what better to try than a Henchmen-heavy list lead by everyone's favourite inquisitor, Coteaz himself!

My list:
Coteaz
Eversor Assassin
5 Purifiers w/2 Psycannons, 2 Hammers, Rhino
7 Grey Knight Terminators m/Psycannon & Warding Stave
10 Henchmen (3 Crusaders, 5 DC Assassins, 2 Warriors)
10 Henchmen (3 Crusaders, 4 DC Assassins, 3 Warriors w/Meltaguns), Chimera
7 Henchmen (3 Servitors w/Heavy Bolters, Jokaero, 3 Warriors w/Plasma Guns), Chimera w/HK missile
Dreadnought w/Plasma Cannon
Dreadknight
Land Raider

We rolled for mission and deployment and got Capture & Control and Pitched Battle. My objective is on the center hill and hers is in the big grey building.

Check out the video battle report for details on the game!

750 point madness

The last tournament I attended had four games at 1750 points and two games at 750 points. No comp in either meant that we saw some quite silly lists from the top guys. I have both hosted and played 500 point doubles tournaments before, and am adamant in that games under 1500 points require comp (restrictions) of some kind.



However, if there's no comp people will undoubtedly try to fit in the hardest units they can think of. Let's take a look at some of the more outrageous examples I can think of, and then you guys can post your lists in the comments! Maybe we'll create real gold here :)

I'm actually stretching the truth when I say no comp, as there was some. A modified Force Organization Chart: 1 HQ, 0-2 Elites, 1-4 Troops, 0-2 Fast Attack. 0-2 Heavy Support. This can't really be called comp, because at 750 points you'd be stretching it if you took three Heavy Support. I guess they tried to quell the urge to spam, and then gave us insufficient points to do any spam anyway.

My Chaos Space Marine list at the tournament was:

• Daemon Prince with Wings
• Summoned Greater Daemon
• 5 Chaos Space Marines with Meltagun, Champion and Rhino
• 5 Chaos Space Marines with Meltagun, Champion and Rhino
• Defiler
• Predator with Heavy Bolter Sponsons

This list can fight almost anyone in CC, has long range, high strength, multi-shot and area effect firepower, several fast meltaguns, mobility and many units.

After the tournament I did a little thinking and came up with this list:

• Daemon Prince with Wings and Mark of Khorne
• 5 Chaos Space Marines with Meltagun
• 5 Chaos Space Marines with Meltagun
• Land Raider
• Land Raider

Yeah, that's two scoring Land Raiders in 750 points. Even against Dark Eldar with as many Dark Lances as they can fit (barring bad luck), you should be able to triumph.

750 point games at the top tables of a tournament are extremely matchup-dependent. If you have a foot list and meet an Ork horde you're screwed. However, if you have the dual Land Raider sillyness i wrote about above, you are pretty much invincible. All due to matchup, which you have no control over.

Building a "balanced" list is also rubbish, because then you'll be equally screwed no matter what you meet. Remember we're talking about the top tables here, folks. You'll see Mephiston, a Land Raider, 5 naked Assault Marines and a Librarian Dreadnought in 750 points. Beat that with a "take-all-comers" list ;)

So, what crazyness can you guys conjure up? 750 points and the modified FOC, above. Otherwise NO RESTRICTIONS!!

Haters gonna hate

After last weekend's tournament, I asked on their forums whether they would send the results to Rankings HQ. Oh, the horror!

Haters gonna hate!

Rankings HQ is a website that aggregates tournament results from all over the world and ranks the players of each country. Each country have their own rules for scoring and ranking, adjusted to the size of the tournament scene of said country. For Norway, a player receives 100 points for winning a tournament of 40 people or more. The three best scores the last 12 months count, so the maximum amount of points a player can have is 300. Even if a player wins three big tournaments and finishes last in a fourth, his score is still 300.

The head honchos quickly informed me that they had discussed it, but had decided not to send in any results. They didn't give any reason as to why they had decided this.

Some local guys then protested, saying that they wanted them sent in and arguing that players from afar would have less reason to come if the tournament didn't rank. Also, by sending in the results, the community would get a lot of useful data. For example, the ETC team would have an easier time picking good players for ETC participation. It didn't take long before the protests started.

One guy argued that you'd need written consent from everyone before posting the results on RankingsHQ, which is nonsense. The results for each of these tournaments had been posted on the internet for the last 8 years, so this wasn't any different. Then, we came to the core of the problem.

• "It will promote powerplay to an even greater scale. Let's be the safe haven everyone can turn to in order to relax and have a nice good tournament."
• "It is an event, not a tournament. This is something some players haven't understood, as they bring ridiculously boring min/max armies."
• "Ranking is anathema to what 40k should be."
• "People shouldn't be completely unimaginative when it comes to army design."

Yeah, I asked them what they meant by "power play" It seems like it is unacceptable to play and win. You should play and only have fun and not win. And if you do happen to win, you'd better not be using an army consisting of more than one identical unit.  If you do, you have no imagination, are boring and an bad person.

One of the guys complaining about "power play" was the guy I played in turn 1. He had a rock hard Daemon list with 2 Great Unclean Ones, 3x3 Bloodcrushers, 2x5 Plaguebearers, 4x5 Horrors w/Bolt and 3 identical Daemon Princes of Nurgle. I liked his list and he was a pleasant guy to play against, but let's not kid ourselves: His list was spammy. So what? Apparently, it doesn't matter if you don't win.

It was only the top armies that got a lot of flak, so it seems like taking a hard army is OK, as long as you don't win.

Even the guy with the Kan Wall of spam accused me of using a boring list. GG guy!

So yeah, haters gonna hate!


PS: This is not a criticism of the tournament itself. It was very well run and I enjoyed the experience. This post is about the illusion some of the players there have, that there is such a thing as "balanced armies" and that you are a better person if you don't bring what you consider best to a tournament.

Video tournament report: Winter War 8

We need to obliterate the enemy!

When Predators and Defilers can't deliver enough carnage with their guns, we need Obliterators. These techno-mages, previously of the Adeptus Mechanicus, can deliver this for a bargain price. They can conjure up the perfect weapon for any task, get easy cover saves and Deep Strike to the perfect spot on the battlefield.

So I need some!

However, I don't fancy the current Obliterator model, so I converted my own. Check them out!





As you can see, the paint job is pretty gritty. I'm attending a tournament this weekend, and just needed them to be done. I'll probably revisit them at a later time, touching up the mistakes and adding some highlights.

Video tournament report: Chaos Space Marines vs the World!

Hi guys, I'm back with another tournament report. This was a mini-tournament we played @ the University in Oslo in March 2011.

750 points, 4 games using two of the missions from the upcoming tournament Winter War 8 in Bergen.

Missions 1 and 4:
Deployment: Dawn of War (no night fight in turn 1)
Primary: D3+1 Objectives
Secondary: Kill the most expensive Psyker (or the most expensive non-vehicle, non-HQ model if there is no Psykers in the army)
Tertiary: Kill Points

Missions 2 and 3:
Deployment: Spearhead
Primary: Kill Points
Secondary: Kill the opponent's HQ and save your own
Tertiary: Kill the opponent's HQ with your HQ.

Modified Force Organisation Chart:

• 1 HQ
• 0-2 Elites
• 1-4 Troops
• 0-2 Fast Attack
• 0-2 Heavy Support

My list, 750 pts Chaos Space Marines:

• Daemon Prince w/Wings
• Summoned Greater Daemon
• 5 Chaos Space Marines w/Champion and Meltagun in a Rhino
• 5 Chaos Space Marines w/Champion and Meltagun in a Rhino
• Defiler w/2 extra Dreadnought Close Combat Weapons
• Predator w/Heavy Bolter Sponsons

Watch the video to see how it went!



Game 1: Chriss' Space Marines
Cassius
10 Marines w/Flamer, Missile Launcher, Power Fist in Rhino
Land Speeder Typhoon w/Heavy Flamer
Land Speeder Typhoon w/Heavy Flamer
Predator Annihilator w/Heavy Bolter sponsons
Predator Destructor w/Heavy Bolter sponsons

Game 2: Norau's Space Wolves
Wolf Lord on Thunderwolf w/Frost Blade and Fenrisian Wolf
Thunderwolf
5 Grey Hunters w/Meltagun in Razorback w/Lascannon & Plasma Gun
5 Grey Hunters w/Meltagun in Razorback w/Lascannon & Plasma Gun
5 Long Fangs w/4 Missile Launchers

Game 3: Per Anders' Tyranids
Tervigon w/Catalyst
2 Hive Guard
10 Genestealers
5 Genestealers w/Broodlord
3 Zoanthropes
Biovore

Game 4: Hans Christian's Space Marines
Chaplain in Terminator Armour
5 Assault Terminators (3 TH+SS, 2 LC) in Land Raider Redeemer
10 Scouts w/Camo Cloaks and Sniper RIfles

Video battle report: Blood Angels vs Eldar

Competitive Ulthwe revisited

Two years ago, I wrote a blog post on Ulthwe Eldar being competitive. It was written before the new Space Wolves, Blood Angels and just as the Imperial Guard codex was released. Looking back at the post, I see that some of my points aren't valid anymore, and the army wouldn't be able to beat the armies I am playing against today. So let's take another look at it!



Keeping in mind my rules for Ulthwe Army Lists:

1. No Aspect Warriors
2. No Wraiths
3. Only Farseer as HQ
4. At least one unit of Warlocks as the Seer Council
5. Only Guardians or vehicles driven by Guardians

Currently, we are operating at 1750 points in my gaming circuit, so let's keep to that.

A Farseer is essential, as is his Seer Council. Mounting them on jetbikes gives them mobility to use their Destructors is key if you want the Seer Council to be your hammer. If you rather want it to be your anvil, they can be on foot. The Fortune psychic power is also a must, as this increases their survivability no end! Last, Runes of Warding is a no-brainer which you should always take in a take-all-comers army.

• Farseer w/Jetbike, Fortune, Runes of Warding
• 6 Warlocks w/Jetbikes, 3 Destructors, 2 Embolden, 1 Enhance

We will also need some Troops. I have had great success with a small unit of Guardians with a Bright Lance, deployed out of harms way. They aren't quite dangerous enough to warrant many troops going after them, but can wreak havoc in the enemy's armour line. They get Embolden, so they won't run away after losing a few models.

• 10 Guardians w/Bright Lance, Warlock w/Embolden
• 10 Guardians w/Bright Lance, Warlock w/Embolden

Next, we need some mobile anti-tank. The Seer Council can take most hordes straight on, but will struggle aganst Land Raiders and the like. Ideally, this would be 5 Fire Dragons in a Wave Serpent, but because we don't like Aspect Warriors we can't take them.

• 10 Storm Guardians w/2 Fusion Guns, Warlock w/Singing Spear in Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Shuriken Cannons and Spirit Stones
• 10 Storm Guardians w/2 Fusion Guns, Warlock w/Singing Spear in Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Shuriken Cannons and Spirit Stones

We now have a lot of Troops. Let's take even more!

• 6 Jetbikes w/2 Shuriken Cannons, Warlock w/Destructor
• 6 Jetbikes w/2 Shuriken Cannons, Warlock w/Destructor

Finally, let's take some heavy support for all our Troops.

• Fire Prism w/Spirit Stones
• Fire Prism w/Spirit Stones

Total points cost is 1749, and we end up with a list that can be really annoying! It isn't easy to catch the Eldar on the move, and the slow elements in this list isn't really that important for the enemy to take out! You have quite a lot of firepower, high mobility, a Seer Council that can both take and dish out a lot of damage and a lot of Troops to take those vital objectives. In a pinch, you have 4 Fast Tanks that can crash enemy-held objectives and contest for that turn 5 win.

It should be noted that this list is highly inspired by my buddy Knut's Eldar list. Even though he runs Fire Dragons, an Autarch and no normal Guardians, the feel of this army is still pretty much the same.

Excel army list makers

After yesterdays post about the program Army Builder, I got a tip from a reader. He calls himself fester40k, and told me to Google up Alice40k and their army list makers.

Lo and behold; Excel army list makers for all current codexes! I hadn't even heard of these, so they could do well to market them a bit more!

I decided to check them out. However, I don't own Excel. Excel is 189 € (about 260 US$), so it's way over what I think the software is worth.  I use a Mac, and the spreadsheet software I have available is Google Documents, Numbers on my iPad and OpenOffice Calc.

Google Docs could open the Excel files just fine, but all macro-based functionality wasn't there anymore. Fail
Numbers on iPad couldn't even open the files, claiming they were encrypted. Fail
OpenOffice could open the files, but there were pretty much nothing that worked. Fail
Frustrated, I tried my old-old laptop from work that actually has Excel 2007 - Norwegian version. Unfortunately, the army list makers aren't compatible with non-english versions of Excel! Fail

I should note that Army Builder isn't even available for Mac, so that's another fail for me. I use an old windows laptop to run that software, as it isn't very demanding.

If you have an English version of Excel, try them out! As far as I can tell, they are great tools for making army lists a bit easier and quicker than with pen and paper.

Make army lists easy!

Writing an army list by hand is a lot of work. You have to select the units you like, select all the wargear and options you want your units to have, calculate the points total. When calculating the army's total points cost, you will almost always have gone over the points limit, and you have to go back and adjust. This can be frustrating and take a lot of time. Even worse, with a lot of adding and subtracting from the points total, you often end up with a mistake somewhere. Then you have to do it all over again!

All the way back to 3rd edition I've used a brilliant program called Army Builder. It makes army list creating more about the army list and less about calculating points cost. It supports Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Warhammer 40k, Battlefleet Gothic, Blood Bowl, Warmachine and pretty much any other miniature wargame I can think of.

Every unit, wargear option, psychic power. It's all here, folks!

A trial can be downloaded for free, but to get the full experience, I fully recommend a license. It's only $39.99 for a license you can use on two computers. That means that you and a friend can split the cost and get it for one computer each!

Please note that I have no commercial interest in this product and receive nothing from the authors for writing this blog post. I just use and like it a lot, and that's why I recommend it.

If you don't want to spend money on making your list building easier, there is a free solution! At least if you have Microsoft Excel and play Necrons or Eldar. YouTube user matteo311GameMovies have made army builders for Necrons and Eldar. He's giving these away for free, and explains about them in this YouTube video. If you support him by downloading the army builders, commenting on and spreading his videos, he might just make the next one for your army.

How about them new Grey Knights?

So, the Grey Knights are next. Gone will be the Daemonhunters of old, the restricting codex that required you to use the Space Marine codex and the Imperial Guard codex if you wanted to exhaust all the options within.

The Inquisitors made it into the Grey Knights codex! Who'd have thunk it!

The rumours have it that this time around mankind's most elite defenders, the Grey Knights will not be overpriced vanilla Space Marines with Storm Bolters. No, this time they will be awesome!

Two of my gaming buddies, Knut and Illumini, have done a few playtests, using the leaked dex that's floating around. They're not convinced that it's the ultimate cheesefest some people are making it out to be. Paladins with W2 Sv2+/2++ and Feel No Pain is not the way to go, though the rumours were sexy indeed!

The Grey Knights will depend on their Special Characters for most competitive builds (Coteaz comes to mind), but that taking a standard Grand Master also can be made to work pretty well. Also, the Dreadknight is an incredibly solid choice!

In fact, Illumini thinks that any all-comers Grey Knight build will include three Dreadknights. They simply are that good!

A list @ 1750 points:

Coteaz
Grand Master, psycannon, nemesis warding stave

4x Meltagun warrior, 1x Jokaero, 5 Warriors, Chimera
1x Meltagun warrior, 1x Jokaero, 3 Multi-melta Servitors, 6x warrior, Chimera
4x Plasmagun warrior, 1x Jokaero, 5 Warriors, Chimera
4x Plasmagun warrior, 1x Jokaero, 6 Warriors, Chimera

Dreadknight, teleporter, heavy psycannon
Dreadknight, teleporter, heavy psycannon
Dreadknight, teleporter, heavy psycannon

Illumini comments: The Grand Master can give the Scout ability to D3 units (Dreadknights). You then have a massive advantage in the map control department, as they will be firmly in your opponent's face. Coteaz makes it so you are almost immune to getting seized, so you can safely deploy fully forward if you get first turn. Because of the scouting Dreadknights, deploying against this army will be a dangerous prospect indeed. Many opponents will try to reserve their stuff, or find themselves in close combat with three Dreadknights by turn 2 at the latest.


If your opponent reserves his entire army or you are playing Dawn of War, the Dreadknights can get scoring status instead.


The inqisitorial retinues want to roll 2 on the Jokaero chart, making the Meltaguns 24" and the Plasma guns and Multi-meltas 36"!

After testing out this army, Knut had some thoughts about it:
Those Terratrons (Dreadknights) are a royal pain to play against! Even though Illumini had a bit of bad luck on his 4+ invulnerables, they took an incredible beating before going down. In one turn, i shot 15 Fire Dragons,  6 War Walkers with Scatter Lasers and 2 Wave Serpents with Scatter Lasers, and the bastard only lost 2 wounds!


Coteaz is a steal! His ability to shoot at outflankers more or less neutralized my War Walkers in his back field. In a Dawn of War match, where he can deploy far forward, he can pretty much deny an entire flank. And that's not even one of his best abilities!


After a little bit of consideration, Knut fashioned this list @1750:
Grand Master, Nemesis Warding Stave
Librarian, The shrouding, Warp Rift, The Summoning, Might of Titan, Teleport Homer, Nemesis Warding Stave

5 Grey Knight Strike squad, Incinerator
5 Grey Knight Strike squad, Incinerator

Storm Raven, TL-Multi-melta, TL-Lascannon
Storm Raven, TL-Multi-melta, TL-Lascannon

Dreadknight, Teleporter, Heavy Psycannon
Dreadknight, Teleporter, Heavy Psycannon
Dreadknight, Heavy Psycannon

In objective missions, you can get D3 scoring Dreadknights if you want it, so the 2 Troops isn't much of a problem. The Librarian and Grand Master takes a Storm Raven each. The Librarian can use The Summoning and his Teleport Homer to get Dreadknights out of sticky situations if needed.


The Storm Ravens can go Flat Out 24" and still shoot their twin-linked Multi-meltas at enemy armor. If either is shot at, the Librarian can use The Shrouding to give both of them a wonderful 3+ Cover Save.

There you have it, folks! Our first playtest of the leaked Grey Knights codex. It seems very interesting and fairly strong so far. I especially like the Inquisitorial Henchmen! I'm definitively going to get my guys together for this one!

Space Wolves commission and the Scorpion Defiler

Here is a little runthrough of the Space Wolf army I'm painting up for my buddy Norau. As a litte bonus, at the end I'm showing off my Scorpion Defiler.

Preparations for Winter War 8

Our gaming group is going to Winter War 8 in March. For preparations, we are playing a lot of games with the scenarios in the rulespack. Some of them are pretty strange, so it will be useful to have tried them out in advance.

We are also required to bring two armies. One 1750 point and one 750 point army. Army selection has been difficult, because some armies excel at 1750, but struggle at 750. Black Templars struggle very much at 750, for example.

Also, at 750 without any restrictions, it pretty much comes down to matchup. If you get a good matchup you win, if you get a bad one you lose. You can meet Mephiston, a Dreadnought, a Land Raider and a 5-man naked Tactical Squad or you can meet 120 Orks. How do you build a balanced army that can win against both of these extremes? 750 points in a competitive environment is a bad idea.

Regardless, we are looking forward to going and meeting lots of 40k players. The tournament filled all 50 spots a month ago, so it should be a blast! Expect video battle reports ;)

Strategikon 5 secondary missions sneak peek

At the next Strategikon we're mixing things up a bit. Instead of simply playing the standard missions from the rulebook, we're adding secondary missions. Here's a little sneak peek of what these missions can be.

Great leader
The enemy commander is pivotal to the enemy in the ongoing conflict. You must eliminate him/her/it!

You will get 1 point if you kill your opponent’s most expensive HQ model.

If the enemy doesn’t have a single HQ model with a points cost, you must kill the most expensive HQ unit to fulfill this objective.


Control the field
This area is of vital tactical importance in the ongoing conflict.

Split the battlefield in four quadrants. You will get 1 point if you have one or more units completely within each quadrant at the end of the game. Note that ANY unit can fulfill this objective, not just units from the Troops category. The enemy can’t contest the quadrants for this objective.

More Special Characters from Imperial Armour 9

They're green!
Of course they get +1 Cover Save!

Last time, we explored the possibilities Captain Tarnus Vale gives a Space Marine Army. This time, let's check out the sneaky Chapter Master of the Raptors, Lias Issodon.

Chapter Master Lias Issodon - 140 points

Issodon is the leader of the Raptors, who are apparently even more sneaky than the Night Lords and Alpha Legion combined! His special Chapter Tactics rule is that all units exchange Combat Tactics for the Stealth Univeral Special Rule.

This is insanely good! Space Marines benefit greatly from cover against low-AP weapons. Giving them all +1 to their cover save is pretty ridiculous. However, just like Tarnus Vale, only foot troops have Combat Tactics and benefit from his buff.

He also gives your opponent -1 to any reserve rolls, and 1 unit D6 wounds or a glancing hit after deployment. This is also awesome, but we won't be exploiting this today.

Let's try a list! 1500 points:

Chapter Master Lias Issodon
Space Marine Captain w/Relic Blade, Artificer Armour & Space Marine Bike

4 Space Marine Bikes w/2 Flamers, Attack Bike
4 Space Marine Bikes w/2 Flamers, Attack Bike
4 Space Marine Bikes w/2 Meltaguns, Attack Bile w/Multi-Melta

2 Attack Bikes w/Multi-Meltas
2 Attack Bikes w/Multi-Meltas
2 Attack Bikes w/Multi-Meltas

5 Devastator Squad w/4 Missile Launchers
Thunderfire Cannon
Thunderfire Cannon

No Scouts in this list, even though they would also benefit greatly from Issodon's abilities.

We exploit Issodon's Chapter Tactics twice in this list:

1. The Techmarines manning the Thunderfire cannons can use Bolster Defences on two ruins giving 2+ cover saves to themselves, Issodon, the Devastators and any bikes hiding behind the terrain piece at the start of the game.
2. The (apparently stealthy) Bikes can Turbo-boost, giving themselves 2+ cover saves until they are ready to strike (with 4 Flamers, 2 Heavy Bolters, 7 Multi-Meltas and 2 Meltaguns. Oh, and a bunch of Twin-Linked Bolters).

What do you guys think? Is it to powerful? Try it out, and let me know how it went! ;)

Missions at Strategikon 5

The fifth tournament in the Strategikon series is from April 30th to May 1st. At Strategikon 3 and 4 we simply played the standard missions from the rulebook. Win, draw or loss was the name of the game, giving 3, 1 and 0,5 points each. The feedback we got from the players indicated that they were very happy with the missions being simple and familiar. However, several players also said that they wanted to mix things up a little bit.

This time, we're going to try to do just that. We're still playing the standard missions, but are also introducing our secret secondary mission cards. After matchups, each player is given a card with a secret mission objective. If they manage to fulfill this objective during or at the end of the game they get 1 point extra. The secondary mission isn't something you compete with your opponent to do, and in most cases both players can fulfill the requirements for the secondary in the same game.

Victory in the primary mission will still count much more than the secondary, so that will still be imperative to win if you want to do well in the tournament.

Another reason for including the secondary missions is that many players ended up with equal scores after five games. We did have tiebreakers to separate them, but several players voiced their discontent with this solution. We hope that the secondary mission will separate players more than before, so it will be more clear who are the top 40k players in Norway and who aren't.

Exploring Special Characters from Imperial Armour 9

Last time we made a Daemons army using Blight Drones to dramatically increase firepower and block movement. This time, let's check out some of the many Special Characters from Imperial Armour 9 - The Badab War part 1, and what they can do for your army.

Captain Tarnus Vale - 175 points

This guy is the Praetor of the Fire Angels 3rd company and has a thing for armoured warfare. He is a regular Captain stats-wise, but isn't a powerhouse in close combat or shooting. He is a 175 point army buff because of his Chapter Tactics rule:


Chapter Tactics: Vale is a master of the mechanised assault and anti-armour warfare. If you include Captain Vale then all units in your army exchange the Combat Tactics special rule for the Tank Hunters USR. In addition, any Rhino or Razorback bought as a dedicated transport for squads affected by this change gains the Extra Armour upgrade for free.

In addition he has the following special rule:
Master Gunner: Any vehicle with the subtype (Tank) that transports Captain Vale gains the Tank Hunters USR.

Put him in your army, and all your Devastators' Missile Launchers are S9 versus vehicles. That's pretty hard core! Put him in a Land Raider and your Godhammers will pummel the enemy tank lines with two Twin-Linked S10 shots per turn. All the Krak Grenades in your army are S7, Power Fists S9, Plasma Guns S8 and even the humble Bolter gets bumped up to S5 as long as a vehicle is the target!

Sure, he's a liability if you expect to meet a lot of footsloggers like Footdar, Tyranids or The Green Tide, but the strength of getting Tank Hunters on all your foot troops is immense!

Let's try a list @1850 points:

Captain Tarnus Vale

5 Assault Terminators, Land Raider w/Multi-Melta

10 man Tactical Squad w/Meltagun & Lascannon, Sergeant with Combi-Melta, Razorback w/Lascannon, Twin-linked Plasma Gun & free Extra Armour
10 man Tactical Squad w/Meltagun & Lascannon, Sergeant with Combi-Melta, Razorback w/Lascannon, Twin-linked Plasma Gun & free Extra Armour

5 man Devastator Squad w/4 Missile Launchers, Razorback w/Lascannon, Twin-linked Plasma Gun & free Extra Armour
5 man Devastator Squad w/4 Missile Launchers, Razorback w/Lascannon, Twin-linked Plasma Gun & free Extra Armour
5 man Devastator Squad w/4 Missile Launchers, Razorback w/Lascannon, Twin-linked Plasma Gun & free Extra Armour

That's 75 free points of Extra Armour! 12 S9 Missile Launchers and 4 S10 Lascannons should make short work of any Razorback or Chimera spam on the other side of the table. All the Extra Armour will keep your tanks moving and your deployment zone from clogging up with stunned tanks.

If the enemy tries to rush you, the Meltaguns are S9 and should stop any vehicles coming too close for comfort. Sure, 5 Assault Termies aren't the best counter charging element there is, but they should be able to hold up most units that have weathered the storm of fire.

Next time we'll look at Chapter Master of the Raptors, Lias "The Grim" Issodon and his stealthy ways. His boys are even more stealthy than the Night Lords!

Let's try Imperial Armour!

I guess most of you guys are familiar with pretty much all the codexes out there, and all the major blogs are churning out lists for Space Wolves, Blood Angels or Dark Eldar. But very few places have I seen people talk about the wealth of stuff contained in the huge tomes known as Imperial Armour. Sure, they are seldom considered "official" by hardcore gamers, and I know of only one tournament that allows them. Incidentally, this is the tournaments I and Briefspite host, called Strategikon.

I recently acquired all the Imperial Armour books released to date, and have had many good evenings in my comfy couch with a cup of gourmet coffe and a big book in my lap. Let's try to make a decent list using some stuff from IA7 The Siege of Vraks part 3. And none of that really freaky stuff like Structure Points or  Flyers or anything like that. Plain 40k rules here.

Chaos Daemons: 2000 points
Bloodthirster (Might, Instrument)
Bloodthirster (Might)
5 Plaguebearers
5 Plaguebearers
5 Plaguebearers
2 Blight Drones
2 Blight Drones
2 Blight Drones
Soul Grinder (Phlegm)
Soul Grinder (Phlegm)
Soul Grinder (Phlegm)

The Blight Drones are Fast Skimmers with AV12/11/10 and the same Vomit and Phlegm attack that the Soul Grinder has, in addition to a Reaper Autocannon.

The idea behind this list is that your opponent's small arms are completely nullified. Your preferred wave can bee all six Blight Drones and all three Soul Grinders. This gives you nine S8 AP3 large blasts from wherever you want in turn 1, from a wall of AV12/13. The Blight Drones are even pretty much impervious to close combat troops, requiring sixes to hit them!

Assault Terminators in a Land Raider is a typical example of this. You can't really threaten the Raider with shooting, but the Soul Grinders and Bloodthirsters will rip it up if they can survive to the turn after the drop. The Blight Drones are perfect for this. The Land Raider can't easily Tank Shock the skimmers away (3+ dodge save), and then the Terminators won't be able to get to your Grinders.

If you get the other wave, no matter. Just sit in cover with the Plaguebearers and try to get the enemy moving, exposing their sides and rear. Then you drop the Blight Drones and Soul Grinders on the flanks or up their tailpipes.

Next time we'll take a look at two Space Marine characters from Imperial Armour 9 - The Badab War part 1.

Let's ban all Special Characters!

After becoming the team captain for Team Norway at the next year's European Team Championship, I started reading both the rules pack and the discussions in the Captain's Council that lead to these rules.  You see, all aspects of the ETC is decided in a democratic process, where the team captains of each nation have one vote each. The majority rules.

Most of the decisions have been excellent, and the tournament format is undoubtedly very good for this kind of event. I did however wonder why they decided to ban all Special Characters Here in Norway, we have allowed SCs for  quite some time now, after GW started removing the need for "opponent's consent" whenever fielding an SC.

The discussions prior to the vote mostly dealt with some characters breaking the game. Some argued that allowing Special Characters would decrease the number of viable builds available to players. If Vulkan was allowed, for example, every Space Marine player would do a flamer/melta-heavy Salamanders list.

I don't agree with this at all. I find that by banning all SCs, you limit the possible number of high-level armies and skew the metagame into something that is easier to quantify and systemize than you would by allowing them. Sure, the SCs are powerful, but they all have drawbacks. Some are expensive which gives you less support (Logan Grimnar, Ghazkull Thraka, Abbadon), some are great in close combat but lacks firepower or are slow (Swarmlord), some act as a force multiplier but are vulnerable to shooting and assault  (Eldrad).

You pay premium points for their abilities. Sure, some of them are cheaper than you'd expect, but that can easily be said about many units too! Terminators with Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields are cleary undercosted. Let's ban them. Thunderwolves are a little too god, let's ban them too. And Fire Dragons. And while we're at it, take the Vendetta, Manticore, Plague Marines, Obliterators and Hive Guard too. In fact, the best way to make sure the game is fair is if we all play Necrons!

And ban the Monolith...